Greenpeace activists are pressurizing the Foodtown supermarket chain into adopting a sustainable seafood policy by blocking a fishing vessel at Auckland harbour. It is told that Foodtown sells endangered fish species such as orange roughy. According to Greenpeace the activists on life rafts locked themselves to a chain encircling the 45-m Seamount Explorer while holding up banners that read, “Foodtown – costing us our oceans.”
The two activists managed to board the ship and lock themselves to it, ship crew members responded by blasting them with water from high-pressure hoses. Karli Thomas, ocean campaigner of Greenpeace New Zealand, informed that the protest was peaceful as a part of the organisation’s strategy to combat destructive fishing practices in nearby seas.
Thomas also said that they are highlighting that supermarkets are fuelling a demand for unsustainable seafood caught using destructive fishing methods like bottom trawling. All supermarkets in NZ are operated by either Progressive Enterprises, who own Foodtown, or Foodstuffs.
It is said that the organization Greenpeace also targeted the Seamount Explorer, owned by Anton’s Seafoods Ltd, because at this time of year it hunts for orange roughy, a species red-listed by the NGO. Thomas opined that Foodtown and other supermarkets have a responsibility to safeguard our fisheries both environmentally and economically.
Farah Obaidullah, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner, told that the international community, including New Zealand, has grossly failed to live up to its UN commitment to implement measures protecting high seas marine life. Greenpeace is urging UN to take stern measures ensuring sustainable fishing.
